Will the Bills Win the Power Offense Showdown?

It’s Week 2 of the NFL, and our Bills vs. Lions pick features a showdown between two powerhouses this Thursday. Last season, both of these offenses ranked among the top 5, and they’ve picked up right where they left off to start this season (Bills 36 points, Lions 31).

But how will things play out on NFL Game Day 2? The Bills have home-field advantage and are considered slight favorites. However, both defenses struggled a bit on Game Day 1, so we expect plenty of points and touchdowns here—which also plays into the hands of top stars Gibbs, St. Brown, and Cook.

Both Gibbs and St. Brown each scored two touchdowns against the Saints, and for the Bills vs. Lions game, our prediction is that both will find their way onto the scoreboard again. Predicting a winner is a bit more difficult, though in the end we consider the Bills’ quarterback advantage strong enough to give them the edge.

In addition to touchdown bets on individual players, the over/under bet is naturally an interesting option for this matchup. At 53.5, the bookmakers haven’t set the line as high as expected. On Week 1, the two teams combined for 67 points. That 53.5 mark should be surpassed even on a Thursday, so the odds on the over 53.5 for Buffalo vs. Detroit are definitely worth a bet.

Buffalo Bills – Detroit Lions Head-to-Head Record

The Bills have won all five of their most recent meetings in this matchup since 2010. That’s another reason to have a bit more confidence in them here. However, all of those wins were by a single score, and four of the five games were decided by just three points. The bookmakers’ spread for Thursday is set at +4.5, which makes spread betting extremely difficult.

So, for Bills vs. Lions, the betting odds on the Bills are only worth considering with a small spread or as part of a parlay. Here, we recommend betting the over, as both offenses rank in the top 5, whereas their defenses already gave up quite a few points on opening day (Bills 31, Lions 30).

Buffalo Bills – Detroit Lions Pick

The Bills have a “cheat code” on their roster, and his name is Josh Allen. With his touchdown pass to Palmer just before the final whistle, he saved his team on Sunday, and it could come down to that again against Detroit. However, it will take a strong performance from Allen, as the Lions have two absolute touchdown monsters in their ranks: Gibbs and St. Brown.

So for Bills vs. Lions, our betting recommendation is a prediction that St. Brown will score a touchdown. He already had 14 targets on Week 1 and caught ten passes. Sooner or later, that’s bound to lead to touchdowns, especially when you factor in the German-American’s yards-after-catch abilities.

Since we’ve already covered the player bets, we’re left with one other recommendation: the Lions to go over the total points. They’re considered underdogs here, so you can get decent odds starting at 20.5 points. We should take this bet, as that number corresponds to just three touchdowns (+ extra point).